Winter Counts (Weiden) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Weiden is from a branch of the Lakota tribe himself, and his book relies on deep research into its history and traditions. Winter Counts is written with a light touch and a good deal of humor and sobering truths about Native American life.
Sarah Lyall - New York Times Book Review


You can zip through Winter Counts for the fast-paced thrills or the chance to learn about native culture, but slow down to enjoy the beauty of Weiden’s writing.
Washington Post


Winter Counts is a once-in-a-generation thriller, an unforgettable debut set in and around South Dakota’s Rosebud Indian Reservation that brims with complex characters, believable conflicts and an urgent message about Native culture, inequities and criminal justice.… Propulsive.
Los Angeles Times


[V]ivid and convincingly rendered… with fresh insight into the durable charms of the whodunit…. And while some readers may correctly suspect who the true bad guy is long before the reveal, there is plenty to enjoy in the journey to the novel’s satisfying conclusion…. [A] compelling read and an insightful perspective on identity and power in America.
USA Today


(Starred review) [G]orgeous…. The novel twists delicately around various personal conflicts while artfully addressing issues related to the politics of the reservation. Weiden combines funny, complex, and unforgettable characters with strong, poetic prose. This is crime fiction at its best.
Publishers Weekly


Weiden’s series launch sheds much-needed light on the legal and societal barriers facing Native Americans while also delivering a suspenseful thriller that builds to a bloody climax. A worthy addition to the burgeoning canon of indigenous literature. —Michael Pucci, South Orange P.L., NJ
Library Journal


[An] engrossing, and culturally revelatory debut crime novel…. Suspenseful, gritty, gruffly endearing, and resonant, Weiden’s thriller, with its illumination of Lakota spiritual traditions and hopes raised for Virgil’s evolution from thug to sleuth, launches a promising and meaningful series.
Booklist


Key characters have a way of fading from view, and things get talky just when the action is picking up.…Weiden is at his best allowing Native culture to curl naturally around the mystery plot.… A solid if inconsistent crime novel.
Kirkus Reviews